Supreme Court Sides Against Navajo Nation In Dispute Over Water Rights
Katelynn Richardson on June 22, 2023
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday that the federal government does not need to take affirmative steps to secure water for the Navajo Nation, reversing the Ninth Circuit’s decision.
The case, Arizona v. Navajo Nation, questioned whether the federal government has an obligation to take affirmative steps to meet the Navajo Nation’s water needs under the 1868 treaty that established the reservation. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the majority opinion, which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett, that the treaty does not require the United States to take steps like “assessing the Tribe’s water needs, developing a plan to secure the needed water, and potentially building pipelines, pumps, wells, or other water infrastructure.”
“[T]he United States has no duty to farm the land, mine the minerals, or harvest the timber on the reservation—or, for that matter, to build roads and bridges on the reservation,” he wrote. “Just as there is no such duty with respect to the land, there likewise is no such duty with respect to the water.”
“In light of the treaty’s text and history, we conclude that the treaty does not require the United States to take those affirmative steps,” Kavanaugh wrote.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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